Feeding mechanism for button-attaching machines



W. E. ELLIOTT.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINES.

APPLlCAHON FILED MAR. 3|. 19H.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

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W. E. ELLIOTT. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR-BUTTON ATTAGHING MACHINES.--

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 3I. I9I7. "-1 ,313,942. Patented Aug. 25,1919.

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APPLICAHON FILED MAR. 3!. 1917.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

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MBIA PLANOGRAPH c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN BUTTON & FASTENER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BUTTON-ATTACHING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Original application filed October 30, 1916, Serial No. 128,618. Divided and this application filed March 31, 1917. Serial No. 158,996.

, To all whom it may concern a citizen of the United States of America,

residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Button-Attaching Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

This invention relates to a feeding mechanism adapted to be employed for removing small articles from a mounting strip to which they have been temporarily and individually attached, delivering them to a raceway or transfer tube and assisting their free passage along this raceway.

Small articles such as shoe buttons, eyelets, and the like are commonly delivered one after another in position for application to the work by being removed from a hopper and carried along a raceway to the desired position. The operation of removing the articles from an indiscriminate mass in a hopper, however, is haphazard and necessarily results in scarring the articles. Frequently the articles become jammed in the raceway or are delivered in an improper po-- sition. To a large extent the difficulties of such haphazard removal were obviated in the mechanism described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 87,215, filed March 28, 1916, in which means are provided for removing the articles from a flexible stri to which they have been individually and temporarily attached, for example, by having a projecting part pushed through the mounting strip so that the heads of the articles are arranged in similar positions along one side of the strip. The mounting strip is then introduced into the stripping mechanism and the articles are removed from the mount and delivered to the raceway or transfer tube.

An object of the present invention is to provide still better stripping mechanism of this type without sacrificing any of the advantages of the arrangement of the prior application.

The raceway employedin connection with such a stripping mechanism to receive the articles delivered thereby and in turn deliver them to an attaching mechanism, for example, is commonly disposed in an inclined position so that the articles are normally impelled along the raceway by gravity. In case of undue friction caused bydirt or tilting of the articles, or otherwise, they may not be fed regularly and the raceway may fail to deliver an article at the proper time.

It is another object of the invention to rovide an improved mechanism for righting and impelling articles during their passage through a raceway or transfer tube.

Features of the invention consist in the organization of a stripping mechanism in connection with an impelling and righting mechanism.

Other features of the invention, such as the construction of the raceway, will appear after consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine containing my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the article raceway or transfer tube and the stripping and other mechanism in connection therewith.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. at is a perspective view of the stripping mechanism and the rear end of the raceway with parts broken away.

Fig. 5 is a. longitudinal section through the stripping mechanism and the upper end of the raceway.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation and section of the mechanism used for simultaneously operating the stripping mechanism and other mechanisms of a button stapling machine.

Fig. 7 is another view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating another position of the righting and impelling mechanism.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 1 Y

.My novel stripping and feeding mechanism is shown as embodied in abutton sta pling machine of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 1,147,381, granted July 20, 1915, to which reference is made for a further description of parts not herein fully described.

tioned. p

The rear end of raceway 8'passes' over 7 Obviously, the invention may be applied to other types of button stapling machines, and for use with other articles than shoe buttons such as eyelets, lacing hooks, gromets and washers, nails, staples, or the like. 7

A support 1 for the entire mechanism is provided which, adjacent its front end, carries an auxiliary support2. A bracket 3 is detachably connected to and" extends to the rear from the auxiliary support and serves to carrybetween spaced apart arms thereof a horizontal shaft 4:. A bracket 5 ire-loosely mounted between the ends of shaft 4 and includes a forward extension 6 which has a block? detachably connected thereto. Thisblock is used as a'support'for an article racewayor transfer tube 8 permanently se-- cured to and extending upwardly from said support. The tube or raceway is formedof sheet metal and at its underside is bent into a U-shaped guide slot 9 which is widened at the-upper end of each leg as indicated at r 10 to forma shallow and wider groove, and

is bentoutwardly and substantially at right angles to the depth of the guide 9 at both; sides as indicated at 11 to provide support ing surfaces and is then bent upwardly and inwardly to form sides which terminate in guiding ribs 12 pressed inwardly toward the interiorof the tube. This illustrated cross section is especiallydesigned for shoe but tons and particularly for the type of button shown" in Letters Patent I of'the United States to Elliott, N 0. 1,206,755, granted Nov. 28,1916; At its upper side the tube is left open making in effect a slot 18 extending its full length. The upwardly and inwardly turned sides ,of the tube terminate a distance back of'thefront end of the U-shaped guide while the parts 11' extending beyond the sides are fashioned into flat supporting fingers as indicated at 14. The material surrounding the guide slot 9 is removed to space the fingers apart a distance somewhat greater than the with ofthe guide slot and sufiiciently'to receive freely the neck on' the base of the patented button above menbracket 5 and a ribbed or corrugated roller 15 which is rotatively mounted in the bracket below the end of the raceway. The supporting surfaces 11 of'the raceway are relatively thin at this point for a purpose whichwill be later apparent. -A member 16,

securedat the back of bracket 5, isformed on its upper and rear sides 'with' a com paratively wide guideway 17, centrally of I 'WhlOh' a relatively narrow slot 18 is made.

The rear'end of the-raceway or tube8 (see Fig. 2)' has parts cutaway;directly'infront of the way 17. A strip of'paper 19 on which small art cles such as the buttons 20 are successlvelyz and .tem orarily. mounted is led throughzthe :way 1 and over-roller 15,1112}.

articles are subtended by the upper ends of paper passing under the rear ends of the relatively'thin supporting surfaces 11 of the tube while the heads of the articles pass over "nected to the block 5- at its-lower end and pressed against'the'ro1ler'15 'bya spring 25. The roller 23*is aranged directly below the raceway and is provided witha groove 23 into which a part of' the metal folded to form the U-shaped guide 9 may extend. The

shaft on which roller 15 is'mounted has a hand wheel 26 attached at one end which" may be operatedmanually to feed the strip between the rollers. The heads {of the 1 the parts 11 of the raceway as the strip or mount 19 passes below said parts 11 and the articles, here the buttons, are stripped from the mount which is drawn between the rollers 15 and 23 while the buttons enter the upper endof the tube 8. The relative arthe rollers facilitates the insertion .of t e end of a new mount. The manual operation of the button stripping mechanism is of value chiefly in entering the mount into the device and in stripping the first few' buttons.

The mechanism as a whole is designed to be power driven. A bell crank leverhaving horizontal and vertical arms 27 and28, respectively is pivotally mounted at 29 on the auxiliary support 2, the forward end of arm 27 having a link 30 connected thereto which is positioned vertically and at its lower end pivotally connected to the forward end of a lever 31 pivotally mounted between its ends under the support 1. This lever at its on an eccentric 33 on a shaft 34 which is mounted msuitable Journals on the support 1 and may be driven in any ClGSlI'GClIIlELIlIlGI.

rangement of the end of the racewa and V rear end is connected to a, link 32 mounted Rotation of the shaft 3% causes an oscilla-' upon a block 36 which'is slidably' mounted upon'the auxiliary support 2, said linkhav- 'tion of the bellcrank lever as will be apparent. A link 35 is pivotally connected to the upper end of arm 28. The link is mounted ing 'a'downward extension'37 'atthe lower end of which is a laterally projecting pin 38' adapted, to be received in a' slot in; the widened forward portion 39 of a link 10 as" f shown in Fig. 1. Thepin 38 is held inthe" slot against movement or disengagement therefrom by a spring actuated dogtl but.

because of the shape of the endof the" dog, V

the pin may be caused to slide past the dog in case of unusual pressure exerted thereupon. The link 40 curves upwardly and to the rear and is connected at its upper end to a crank 42 which is loosely mounted on the'shaft 4. A dog 43 is pivotally mounted on the crank engaging with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 44 at one end of the shaft 4. WVith each oscillation of the bell crank lever, the link 40 is reciprocated.

On the forward movement of the link, the dog 42 rides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel and on the rearward movement of the link the dog engages with the teeth of the wheel 44 thereby to impart a partial revolution to the shaft 4.

A combined cam and gear wheel 45 is fastened on shaft 4, the gear 45 thereof ongaging with an idle gear 46 which in turn engages with and drives apinion 47 secured to the shaft on which the roller 15 is mounted. The periodical partial rotation of shaft 4 through this mechanism causes a periodical partial rotation of the roller 15. The mechanism is preferably so designed that with each oscillation of the bell crank lever the rotation of rollers 15 and 23 is such as to move the mount 19 a distance substantially equal to the distance between successive buttons 20, causing one button to be removed and delivered .to the tube 8 with each oscillation of the bell crank lever.

A plurality of radial projections 48 are formed on the cam wheel 45. A pinion or roller 49'projects from the lower end of an arm. 50 of a bell crank lever pivotally mounted at 51 on the bracket 5 and bears against-the wheel 45 riding over the surface of the cam wheel, a spring 52 normally serving to force said pinion or roller 49 against the wheel. The other arm 53 of the bell crank lever extends forwardly and upwardly and is bent over the tube 8. At its forward end, it is pivotally connected to a bar 54 at a point intermediate the ends thereof. This bar on its underside is preferably formed with a consecutive series of scallops 55 specially adapted to conform to the upper surfaces of the heads of the shoe buttons. Bar 54 is located directly above the slot 13 and is held between guides 56 fixed to and projecting upwardly from. the tube. A spring 57 is interposed between the arm 53 and the bar 54 the tendency of which is to rotate the bar around its pivot so as to depress the forward end of the bar. A pin 58 on the rear guide 56 extends through a relatively large opening in the rear end of bar 54 and prevents unduedepression, such as wouldinterfere with the admission of the articles into the tube, and holds the bar in substantially parallel relation to the length of the button tube.

In practice with each partial revolution of shaft 4 pinion 49 -passes from. one-pros ingly hold the buttons against passage from jection on the cam 48 to the next succeeding projection. The bar 54 during this movement is moved substantially vertically so that it enters the slot 13 in the tube to engage with the buttons therein. It will also be noted that each time the bar is lowered the forward end first engages the buttons or other articles (see Fig. 7 and then it also moves slightly forward so that the buttons are advanced a similar amount and are disengaged from the tube and righted so as to pass down the tube should any of them becometilted or otherwise displaced so as to bind against any portion thereof. The buttons pass down the tube until, adjacent its lower end, they are stopped by downturned fingers 59 mounted between upstanding brackets 60 near the forward end of the tube, said fingers being spring actuated to yieldthe tube. The sliding block 36 carries a laterally projecting pin 61 which is engaged with link mechanism, denoted at 62, interposed between and connectin the pin with an ejecting mechanism indicated as a whole at 63 which successively engages an ejecting finger 64 with the foremost button in the tube. WVith each oscillation of the bell crank lever arm 28, the finger '64 engages with and ejects a button 20 from the tube 8, carrying it to the position shown in Fig; 1, the button'being guided between upstanding projections 67 and held against the forward end 68 of a bar 65 which is pivotally mounted between its ends on the auxiliary support 2 as shown in Fig. 6. The button is thus supported between the portions 14 of the raceway and the end 68 of the bar, in position to receive through its eye wire fed between the projections 67 and said end 68 for the purpose of forming the staple. The head of the button is supported at the front by engaging on the upper side of part 68 while atthe rear it is supported on both sides by fingers 14, the three point support thus formed holding the button firmly against accidental displacement during the operation of staple forming. This way of supporting the button and the 00- action of the stripping mechanism with the ejecting and other mechanisms form no part of the present invention and will not be described further in this application, since they are fully disclosed and are claimed in'my prior application Serial No. 128,618, filed Oct. 30, 1916, of which this is a division.

I claim 1, In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an open upper end, a roller mounted belowsaid upper end of the raceway, means to rotate said roller, a second roller yieldingly pressed against thefirst roller,;.end a guideway no:

adapted to lead a mount on which articles are consecutively placed to'and betweenthe rollers,; and, therefore under the-end of the raceway whereby, on rotation of the roller, the mount is drawn between the rollers and i a receive a mount having articles mounted one after another thereon and strip said articles from themount deliverin them to the raceway,and means for perio ically operating said mechanism to carry the mount forward with each operation of the mechaf nism a predetermined distance. V

3., In 'a machine of the character 'descr1bed,*an article raceway havlng anyopen upper end, a roller mounted below said upper end of the raceway, means for rotating said roller, and a second roller yieldingly engaged against the first roller. t i

4. In a machine of the character "described,.an article raceway having an open per end and provided with a longitudinal slot in its upper side, means for deliveringv upper end, stripping mechanism located at said upper end of-the raceway adapted to receive a mount having a row of articles mounted thereon and strip said articles from the mount and deliver them to the raceway,-,-means for operating said mechanism, and means for periodically engaging with articles delivered to the raceway and righting them for free passage down the raceway,

5, In a machine of the character de- I scribed,;,an article, transfer. tube having an open upper end and a longitudinal slot in its upper side, stripping mechanism mounted adjacent said upper end of the tube adapted to receive a mount having articles mounted thereon one after another and strip said articles from the mount delivering them to the tube, means to operate said stripping mechanism, a bar fashioned on its under side with a consecutive series of scallops, said bar being located directly above the slot in the tube, and means for periodically lowering said bar into engagement with articles in the tube to right the same and impel them forward inthe tube.

6. Inamachineof the character described, an articletransfer tube having an open uparticles into said tube at said upper end, a bar provided on its under side with a series 'of consecutive scallops formed to engage with the upper sides of the heads of articles in thetube, pivoted supporting means, said bar being pivotallyfsu ported intermediate between; its ends on sai' means directly above {the slot; inlLisa-i'd tuba-means tendingto m-r tate said bar around its pivot, and means i for periodically actuating said supporting means to lower said bar into engagement with said articles to right the same for free movement down the tube.

7 In a machine of the character described,

an article raceway having an open upper end, means for delivering articles into said,

- end before it contacts with articles near the other end.

8. In a machine of the character described, I

an article transfer tube having an'open upper end and a longitudinal slot in its upper side, means for deliveringiarticles into said tube at said'open end, a shaft, means for rotating theshaft, a cam wheel mounted on the shaft, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted adjacentthe tube having one arm arranged to contact with said cam wheel, a bar located directly above the slot in the tube and a connection between said bar and the V other arm of said bell-crank lever.

9. In a machine of the character described, 7 a button transfer tube'having an open upper endandprovidedwith a longitudinal slot in. 7

its upper side, a roller located' below said upper end of the'tube, a pinion connected with the roller, a shaft mounted adjacent the roller, means to rotate said shaft, a combined gear and cam wheel on the shaft, gearing connections between said wheel and pin ion, a second roller yieldingly engaged against the first roller, a bar located directly above the slot in the tube, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted adjacent said wheel, one arm ofsaid lever co-acting with said cam wheel, and connections between said bar and,

the other arm of the bell-crank lever.

10. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an open' upper end, and rollers mounted in contact engagement'with each other below said open end of the raceway adapted to draw a mount of thin material between them, said mount having a row of articles thereon, the location of the rollers with respectto the racewaybcing such that portions of said articles-are engaged by the raceway whereby the mount is V pulled away from the'articles on rotation of the rollers, leaving the articles free to enter the raceway.

11. In a machine of the character described, a supporting bracket, an article raceway,'hav1ng"an open upper end, carried by and extending downwardly and forwardly from the bracket, a shaft rotatably mounted on the bracket a distance below theraceway, a ratchet'wheel and a gear on said shaft, a

erasrlrleesely mounted enthe shaft, a pawl on said crank engaging with the ratchet wheel, means for oscillating the crank about the shaft, a roller rotatively mounted below the open end of the raceway and closely adj acent thereto, a second roller yieldlngly pressed against the first roller, and a gearing connection between said gear and the first roller for rotating said roller with the rotation of the shaft.

12. In a machine of the character described, a support, a button transfer tube located on and inclining downwardly to the front from the support, said tube having a longitudinal slot in its upper side, a shaft on the support, a cam wheel on the shaft, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on the support, one arm of said lever being adapted to co-act with said cam wheel, a spring for pressing said arm against the wheel, a bar provided on its under side with a consecutive series of scallops, front and rear guides extending upwardly from the tube in which the bar is positioned directly above the slot in the tube, a pivotal connection between said bar between its ends and the other arm of the bell crank lever, a spring interposed between said arm and the bar tending to depress the forward end of the bar, and means on the rear guide engaging with said bar to prevent an undue depression of the rear end of the bar. I

13. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having laterally extending supporting members adapted to underlie the base of an article, these members being relatively thin at the receiving end of the raceway, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of articles arranged in a series, and guiding means for said temporary supporting means provided with laterally extending supporting surfaces and arranged to conduct said temporary supporting means closely adjacent to and beneath said supporting members.

14. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having laterally extending supporting members adapted to underlie the base of an article, these members being relatively thin at the receiving end of the raceway, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of articles arranged in a series, guiding means for said temporary supporting means provided with laterally extending supporting surfaces and arranged to conduct said temporary supporting means closely adjacent to and beneath said supporting members, and means for moving said tem orary supportin means through the gui eway.

15. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway, co-acting stripping rollers below the raceway, and means for moving one of said rollers to draw a temporary mounting strip therebetween,

said raceway and said rollers being relatively arranged to assist in guiding the end of a new strip between the rollers.

16. In a machine of the character described, a raceway for articles having a head and a projecting portion of less size than the head comprising supporting surfaces adapted to underlie the head of the articles near their periphery, said surfaces being spaced apart to receive the projecting parts of. the articles, a. mount for temporarily and individually supporting the articles in a series, and a guideway for the mount having laterally disposed supporting surfaces, said surfaces extending to a point adjacent to the receiving end of the raceway and being so disposed with relation to the supporting surfaces of the raceway that the heads of the articles will slide on to the raceway as the mount is passed be neath the end thereof.

17. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an opening at the top, a bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, and means for supporting said bar for up and down movement toward and away from the raceway and causing one end of the bar to .be depressed into engagement with the articles sooner than the other end.

18. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an opening at the top, a bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, and means for supporting said bar for up and down movement toward and away from the raceway, said means being pivotally mounted on an axis which does not intersect the line of the raceway so that the movement of the bar will have a component lengthwise of the raceway.

19; In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an opening at the top, a bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, a lever forpivotally supporting said bar intermediate its ends, and means for limiting the movement of one end of the bar.

20. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an open: ing at the top, a bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, a lever for pivotally supporting said bar intermediate its ends, and means for limiting the movement of one end of the bar toward the raceway.

21. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an opening at the t P a bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, a lever for pivotally supporting said bar intermediate its ends, and means for limiting the movement of one end of the bar both toward and away from the raceway.

22. In a machine of the character described, an article raceway having an opening at-the top,'a bar disposed*above-and lengthwise'of the raceway, movablelmeans for pivotally supporting said bar int'e inediate its ends, and means tendingtorotate 5 said bar around its support'td'causeone end "to engage the articles in' the raceway sooner -5 I 1 28; 'ln'combmation, a b-utton raceway, a a package comprising a flexible mount: upon than the other end.

' 23'. In a machine of the character de scribed, an :aT-ticleraceway having an opening atthe top, a bar disposedabo-ve and lengthwise of the raceway, movable means for pivotally supporting said bar-intermediate its endalmeans tending to rotate said bar around its support to; cause one'e'nd to 15 engage the articles in thelracewaysooner than the other-end, and means forfilimiting 7 T whereby'when said'mount is moved over said the movement of the latter end.

V 24. Inja machineofQthe-character described, an article raceway having an'op'en- 20 ing at the top, abar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, movable means for pivotally supporting vsaid bar interme.-

diate its ends, means tending'to rotate said p p buttons, :SfLlCl groove being wldened at 1ts bar'around itssupport to cause 'onejend to engage the articles in the raceway sooner "than the other end, and meansiforlimiting' the movement of the latter end toward the raceway.

" Lyn:

25. In a machineof the character described, an article raceway having an'opening at the 'top, a: bar disposed above and lengthwise of the raceway, movable means-for pivotally" supporting said bar intermediate its ends,

means tending to rotate bar'ar'ound its supportto cause one end to engage the ar-- ticles in the raceway sooner than the 1 other end, and means for-limiting the:movement' of the latter end both toward. and away-from T: V LlIG'I'RCQWZLY; l a 26. In combination, a button-raceway, a package comprising a mount to whicha plurality 'ofbuttons have been temporarily at- T tacked. and arranged in a series, said jraceway being providedawith agre'latlvely thin projecting vportion. adapted to underlie" the bases 30f: successive jb'uttonsgand; means i for strained-for movement in a substantially vertical direction toward and :away from the :rraceway, and camactuatedlever [arranged to Icausec said member to'jpressa against .the.

articles in theraceway so that they will tend to assume: predetermined positions and then tively thin portion whereby then-buttons are Y removed from the'mount into the raceway. I

27. In combination, T a 7 package comprising a mount to which, a pluand are introduced rality of buttonshave beenattached byipass- V p articlesin the raceway so that they may slide "ingthe eyes' of said buttons :throughsaid mount, one'end of said *rac'eway' being-protion adapted to; be inserted between the Copies offchis patent maybe obtainedforifive cents, each, by addressing the fcommissipli e i if 1 was hingtomDi Cq V a button. raceway; a i v vided with a relativelythin projectingporwhich a plurality of buttons have been arby passing-the eyes ofthe buttons through said mount, and an abruptly curved member partly underlying/the upper end of said raceway provided with a groove to receive the eyes of the buttons, and means for guidiug said mount around said curved member curved member thebuttons will be removed from the mo'unt and introduced into the irarceway.

x 29. a machine for attaching buttons, a button "raceway. provided with: a longitudinal grooveadapted to'receive the eyes of the upper portion to receive projections from the base of the buttons, and a-slot at either end of said" raceway substantially of the width of the projections lupon the bases of the but- -'tons constructed and arrangid to adapt said mount-and the bases o'f'succ'essive buttons, 7

'ranged in a series andtemporarily attached raceway to cooperate with a button stripper mechanism and a wire feeding mechanism.

'away'from the raceway, and means for cansin g said bar iintermi ttently to move in a sub- ,--;stantially vertical direction toward thefraceway so asto contact with the articles therein and then to move back alongythe same, path iout'iofcontact with said articles." r

' 31." lnfa machine (bf/the character dethe top, an elongated member disposed above 7 30. *In a machine of the. character dea "scribed, an: article raceway having an 'openingfat. the'top, a bar disposed above'and" lengthwise of the 'raceway,\means fofsuploo and lengthwise' of-xthe' @raceW ly: Ifand 'reallow said member to move; away from the freely along the racewa-y.

' --;In ftest1m onyswhereof I affix signature.

- 1K WILL IA M 

